Washing curtains- would you do it?

[M0reGinPlease]

Let me preface this by saying I am the queen of chucking anything and everything in the washing machine, even stuff that says dry clean only, and I've yet to have a disaster. But these are expensive curtains...

They are 100% cotton, lining is a poly cotton mix. If they shrank slightly in length that would be fine as I need to take them up anyway, but I'd rather not loose any width. My mother (who taught me my kamikaze attitude to 'dry clean only') says they may shrink upwards due to the weft(?) but not width ways.

They say dry clean only but would you do it? I know there's lots of alternatives but nothing compares to a good old wash and blow on the line. I'd wash them cool, obvs (30?).

Does washing machine have a hand wash option? Woollens? I’d pick the most delicate possible cycle and go for it.

I would, but you run the risk of the curtain shrinking and the lining not shrinking, which will make the seams go weird.
Could you unpick the lining and wash them separately?
I'd hand wash them in cold water but I won't dry clean anything.

I do have a cool hand wash setting on the machine (I also have a 30 degree handwash setting so not sure how much cooler it is), but isn't it the getting them wet that's the issue?

No idea, but when I washed mine they were ok but I think the lining was cotton too.
I wash unlined cotton curtains and they usually shrink a lot. I no longer hem new curtains until after the first wash.

I've washed curtains and never noticed any shrinkage (admittedly they didn't say dry clean only, but they were cotton),

Personally I'd go for it on a handwash setting.

I wash all of mine and haven't had a problem. I don't understand why cotton would shrink if washed at a sensible temperature?

I've washed cotton blend curtains, no issues. Are they really dirty? Maybe you can pat them with a damp cloth/spot treat?

I did it. Curtains shrank, lining did not. Lining is two inches longer than the curtains now 😁

The lining often sends up longer than the curtains, giving the "slip showing under your dress effect" Width wise shrinkage is usually minimal

Mine shrunk and the linings did not...

The thought has never crossed my mind to wash curtains, but my first idea would just be to steam them while still hanging?

I’ve washed mine and nothing happened

I wash curtains every 6 months and hang them up at the windows to dry. Seems to help with the length

I have no idea about shrinking, but weft is widthways threads, so can’t understand what your mum meant.

If it's getting wet that's the issue, does steam cleaning work best because it doesn't get totally soggy?

I have a similar attitude to washing things but would hesitate if they were expensive, I think in similar situation I would pay for them to be dry cleaned and then hang on line to freshen them on a warm blowy day

I would do it, cold wash, line dry then take them for professional ironing.

I have also washed dry clean only curtains that were a kind of chenille finish. They looked brand new afterwards.

Do they even fit in the washer? I would take them to the dry cleaners myself

Well, I have had houses for about 25 years, so I think I must be about 50 washes behind everyone else.

Still, no-one has died. :)

If you rehang them they don’t need ironing as the weigh straightens them out

so if i washed some curtains, just hang them up straight out the washing machine?

Topcat